FTSE 100 movers: Mondi, retailers under the cosh

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,840.05 in afternoon trade on Friday.

Retailers were under the cosh after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales were unchanged on the month in March following a revised 0.1% jump in February, missing expectations for a 0.3% increase.

Automotive fuel and non-food stores sales volumes rose 3.2% and 0.5%, respectively. This was offset by falls in food stores and non-store retailers of 0.7% and 1.5%.

On the year, retail sales rose 0.8% in March, coming in below expectations for a 1% increase. That left sales 1.2% below their pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

In the three months to March, sales volumes jumped 1.9% compared with the previous quarter.

B&M European Value Retail, JD Sports, Marks & Spencer, B&Q owner Kingfisher and Sainsbury’s were all down.

Mondi was the standout gainer on the index after the packaging firm said it would not be making an offer for rival DS Smith, paving the way for a takeover by US-based International Paper.

DS Smith tanked.

Catering group Compass was a high riser after well-received first-half results from French peer Sodexo.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Mondi (MNDI) 1,510.00p 9.70%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,031.00p 1.23%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,195.00p 1.20%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,904.00p 1.13%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,434.00p 1.00%
National Grid (NG.) 1,038.50p 0.83%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,801.00p 0.82%
Haleon (HLN) 323.60p 0.75%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,437.00p 0.74%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,884.00p 0.70%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 351.80p -11.96%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 501.00p -3.65%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 802.20p -2.67%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 117.10p -2.66%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 243.70p -2.60%
RS Group (RS1) 685.00p -2.28%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,978.00p -2.27%
Beazley (BEZ) 656.50p -2.01%
Kingfisher (KGF) 243.50p -1.89%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 258.00p -1.75%